Background on Carla Humphrey Jordan and Her Relevance
Carla Humphrey Jordan, a former president of the Fiscalization Commission at the Mexican electoral authority Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE), has been advocating for modernizing electoral oversight rules. Her expertise and experience make her a key figure in shaping the future of electoral transparency and accountability in Mexico.
Current Challenges in Electoral Oversight
Humphrey Jordan acknowledges that the INE has fallen behind in terms of fiscalization, especially with the emergence of new campaign methods and technologies such as cryptocurrencies and social media. These novel approaches often lack transparency, necessitating an update to the regulations with new rules and penalties.
Technological Advancements for Improved Fiscalization
She emphasizes the need to implement advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the UNIDAD TÉCNICA DE FISCALIZACIÓN to enhance tracking of campaign resources and party allocations. AI has already been successfully employed in recent elections, including judicial power and Durango and Veracruz contests.
Strengthening Sanciones and Information Disclosure
Humphrey Jordan also calls for establishing stricter sanciones against government entities that refuse to disclose fiscal information to the INE. This issue has complicated electoral expense tracking for political parties and candidates in recent years.
Addressing Evolving Campaign Methods
The consejera highlights the importance of regulating digital platforms for resource reception, such as YouTube, to ensure transparency and traceability. She also stresses the need for regulating social media, which has yet to be addressed, including verifying ad compliance and detecting hidden political ads.
Outdated Regulations
Humphrey Jordan points out that the current INE regulations are outdated, still mentioning minimum wages for sanctions and obsolete methods like the 01800 telephone number for donations. These inconsistencies need to be addressed.
Resistance to Change
The consejera recognizes resistance within the INE to adopting new technologies, including electronic voting machines, system modernization, and AI. She stresses the importance of training personnel to understand that these technologies complement their roles rather than replace them.
Collaboration with Other Institutions
Humphrey Jordan emphasizes the need for strengthened collaboration with other institutions to ensure timely, complete, and accurate information sharing. She advocates for appropriate sanctions against those who fail to comply.
Acknowledging Past Cybersecurity Incidents
The INE has acknowledged past cybersecurity incidents but asserts that there is currently no evidence of system vulnerabilities or unusual activity.
The INE denies the validity of information circulating on social media claiming to provide access to its internal servers. The institute states that past incidents have been contained and security measures, including multi-factor authentication, have been fortified since then.
